The Festival Marley, Kanye and Nirvana Have in Common

The British girl band Savages perform on stage during the Roskilde Festival in Denmark on July 4, 2013.

Since last Saturday, the Danish capital Copenhagen has been seeing an exodus of residents who are under 30, or who feel that young.

The travelers were almost all carrying the same stuff: a sleeping bag, a camping chair and sometimes a tent. And they are all heading to the same destination: the nearby city of Roskilde; or – to be more precise – its festival area.

“It’s my tenth time here. I had my initial visit at the age of 15 and returned ever since – for the music and the party,” says Peter Sloth, a 25 year old from Copenhagen who is wearing short jeans and a T-shirt while having a water after this year’s first festival night.

Roskilde Festival, Northern Europe’s biggest annual music celebration, has attracted crowds like this since 1971. Over the years, artists like Bob Marley, Nirvana, and Kanye West have played at the Denmark-based festival, and so has German electronic music pioneer Kraftwerk, who will return Sunday night to close this year’s installment, which was opened by Vinnie Who.

“[Vinnie Who] did a fantastic performance and Kraftwerk’s gig is definitely something I am very much looking forward to,” says Sloth, adding that the first time he came to Roskilde was together with over 100 friends from school. “Now we are still a gang of 30 and everybody is afraid of missing out something if he would not join for one year,” he says. When he attended the festival for the first time ten years ago the pure partying was much more important for him than the concerts.

That also holds for Jakob Eriksen, a 24 year old, who has been at Roskilde four times. ”For teenagers Roskilde is the place where you can do what you want. The normal rules simple do not apply,” he says.

Doing what they want for Danish teens often mean the classic countercultural combo of “Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll,” where drugs mean mainly alcohol, but also hash. At Roskilde cold beer can be bought at lower prices than in the downtown bars and there are plenty of waiters running around in the area selling shots and Irish Coffee for instant consumption – the drink is directly sprayed in the consumer’s mouth. Despite the huge alcohol intake it is not common to see people fighting or lying sick in the grass.

This year’s Roskilde festival started yesterday evening and lasts until Sunday night. An all day pass is roughly $332 U.S. The last gig of the first day was a rather weak performance that included Swedish singer Lykke Li. Before, on a smaller stage, the French turntable group C2C was playing and got the people dancing.

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The campsite at Roskilde Festival in Denmark

Already since Saturday, a smaller pre-festival took place entertaining thousands that already had put up their tents on the huge camping site attached to the area. With its more than 100.000 visitors – including volunteers and others that get free entry – the festival area temporarily forms Denmark’s fourth largest city. It can be hard to find a Dane younger than 60 who has never been to Roskilde Festival.

For those attending it for the first time, living in a tent on the festival’s premises might be a trying experience. The huge camping sites often look like U.N. refugee camps. The ground is covered by a mix of empty beer cans, half full paper plates and other rubbish. The smell in the air is farm-like and indicates that people are using areas as urinals that are not meant to be used as such. It is on these camping sites that the younger visitors of the festival hold parties during and after concerts. Those who want to sleep (relatively) undisturbed can pay for one of the tents the festival has set up in a cleaner area. This and the fact that one can buy day passes and easily commute from nearby Copenhagen has encouraged many people above 30 or even older to return to Roskilde again and again.